Richard Ludlow
Richard came up with the idea for Academic Earth while studying international development at Yale University. Throughout college, Richard had been particularly inspired by social entrepreneurs such as Wendy Kopp, Jimmy Wales, and Charles Best whose innovative efforts have improved educational opportunities for people on a very large scale.
Having used “OpenCourseWare” materials to supplement his own education, Richard knew not only how valuable this type of content is, but how much could be done to make it more accessible for people around the globe. He founded Academic Earth with the idea that centralizing online education resources, applying the latest tools in web development, and building a platform for rich community contributions could lead to a perpetually improving educational ecosystem that provided anyone with an internet connection access to teachings directly from some of the world’s greatest scholars.
Prior to Academic Earth, Richard established Students for Organ Donation, a student-run volunteer organization that promotes organ donor awareness and registration on high school and college campuses. Additionally, he founded the Yale Economic Review, a journal of popular economics sold at newsstands throughout the United States. Richard holds a BA in Economics and MA in International and Development Economics, both from Yale University.
Liam Pisano
Liam Pisano joined Academic Earth after working for several years in various capacities in the private equity industry. Most recently, he worked for Patriot Capital Funding, a business development company providing debt and equity for growing businesses, where he gained an appreciation for the challenges that an entrepreneur faces at various stages of a Company’s development. Prior to joining Patriot, Liam worked at Spectrum Equity Investors, a $4 billion private equity firm investing in the media and communications industry. At Spectrum he worked on transactions in the digital media, cable, satellite, wireless and business services sectors.
Liam graduated with a BA in Political Science from Williams College and earned a Masters in Business Administration in Finance from the Yale School of Management. While at Yale, he worked with Richard at the Yale Economic Review, where he currently serves on the alumni advisory board.
Liam has a sincere belief in the social benefit that a company and solution such as Academic Earth can offer anyone with an internet connection. He is excited about education-based technological advances that help bring the classroom to the living room, and broadcast the benefits and learning opportunities inherent to higher education.
